Chefs for the President of the United States each come with their own unique story. In the early days, many of the White House chefs were slaves. Besides the Roman hero, Hercules—and the Disney film adaptation of the mythological figure—there is another notable Hercules. Hercules was one of George Washington’s slaves and his personal chef at Mt. Vernon. A portrait found of Hercules piqued curiosity in regard to the slaves of the most famous early political figures in America. Washington’s cook followed him to Philadelphia, the nation’s capital at the time, and was known for wearing a white chef’s outfit and kerchief at all times. It is rumored that Martha Washington was the one who taught Hercules how to cook. He oversaw eight staff members, from waiters to stewards. Eventually, Hercules escaped on the streets of Philadelphia, never to be seen again.
James Hemings was the slave chef for Thomas Jefferson on Monticello. When Jefferson was appointed to the role of minister to France, he brought Hemings with him to learn the art of French cooking. He served as Jefferson’s chef for several years before petitioning for his freedom. Jefferson agreed, so long as James would train someone else to take his place. After teaching his brother what he had learned about cooking on Monticello and in France, he was freed in 1796. At the University of Virginia, there is still an original, handwritten list Hemings wrote, cataloging the kitchen equipment before he left. It ranges from sauce pans, to kettles, to dish covers.
President Benjamin Harrison entered the White House with a highly-regarded French chef running the kitchen. Shortly after taking office, he replaced the French chef, Madame Petronard, with Dolly Johnson, a chef who had cooked for his family in their home state of Indiana. It is said that he liked the simplicity of dishes better than the extensive French dishes Madame Petronard had been serving. Similarly, Vietta Garr was the granddaughter of a slave who worked as a chef for the Truman family in Missouri. Upon Truman’s election, he asked Garr to come to Washington, D.C. with his family. Instead of simply hiring her as his chef, he wanted her to serve as a mentor for his kitchen staff, in order to teach them how to cook “the Missouri way.”